The new neighbours - R5 story
by Mangoosegirl
Summary: Mary Wallace, a nice, smart girl living with her three friends above a restaurant. Our favorite family band moves into the apartment underneath them and soon friendships are made, some might say more then just friendships. But Mary guards ancient secrets, secrets that might get them into some trouble. And she will need her friends more then ever.
1. Chapter 1

"Hello Mrs. Johnson, how was your day?" Mary asked when she got home from her work at the bookstore nextdoor. Leaning over the counter of an old but comfy little restaurant. "Hello dear. My day was splendid. How was yours? Made some sales?" Mrs. Johnson responded. "I did, a great deal with some High School. They ordered a bulk of books to hand out to the students. How's the restaurant doing? Did those tourists came in? They asked me if I knew a good place." Mary told her. "Oh was that you? Thank you dear, they did come in and left a great tip. And even more great news, Harold is showing some nice people the apartment upstairs. If they move in we might be able to affort that nice playground for the grandkids."  
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were an old couple that ran a cute little restaurant, but most of their income came from the rent of two apartments above it. One was rented to Mary and three of her friends, Lucy, Lydia and Charlotte, the other one had been empty for few months now. They would never say it, but the lack off rent income had taken its toll. "That's great! What are they like?" Mary asked. "Oh they are five siblings and their friend, they seemed very nice and polite." Mrs. Johnson said. "That sounds wonderfull Mrs. Johnson. Do you think I can run upstairs without disturbing them?" Mary was wondering, she didn't want to blow the sale for Mr. Johnson. "Oh go on up dear, you do live upstairs after all." Mrs. Johnson said. "Thank you. Have a nice day Mrs. Johnson."

"Great that you all like the apartment, if there is anything wrong or broken you can come to me or my wife. We will take care of everything." Mary heard Mr. Johnson talk to the possible tenants. "Oh, Hello. Don't mind me, just passing through. How are you Mr. Johnson?" Mary said as she made her way through the group of people to the second flight of stairs. The composition of the group and their stares did not go unnoticed. There were five boys, two with light blonde hair and thre brunettes, and a girl, also blonde. The boys had their gaze set on Mary as she walked past them. "Hello Mary dear. I'm great, thank you."He answered her. "This is Mary Wallace, she and her friends live upstairs. They are lovely young ladies." He told the boys and girl in the hallway. "Why thank you Mr. Johnson. I tell you there are no nicer landlords that Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, it is true. Bye now, Lydia is waiting for me. It is our turn to cook, wish me luck Mr. Johnson." She said and made way to walk upstairs. "Oh dear, Lydia and cooking, the best of luck then. Have a nice day Mary." "Have a nice day everyone." Mary said while continuing to walk. She was out of sight but she did hear the boys in unison say, "We'll take it."

* * *

A week later Mary came saw a big truck with loads of boxes coming out, and people walking in and out of the restaurant. Soon she had found her friend Lucy, who helped in the service of the restaurant every now and then. "It looks like those new people are moving in." Mary said. "It does, it has been going on like this for an hour or so, the truck should be almost empty. Did you get a good luck at them?" Lucy asked, always curious. "I did, when they came looking at it. I met them on the way up, I just saw them. I didn't introduce myself." Mary said. "What did they look like?" Lucy asked, desperate to learn more. "Lucy! They looked like nice people. Five boys and one girl, poor thing." Mary described. "Alone in a apartment with five boys, that sounds amazing!" Lucy exclaimed, she was a bit boy-crazy. Mary merely shook her head. "From what I gathered it is five siblings and one family friend, odds are most of them are her brothers." She told her friend. "Still."

On her way up Mary was very carefull not to be in someone's way, she mostly succeeded, until she was so busy looking around that she missed the person in front of her. BUMP. "Oh sorry! My apologies, I wasn't looking." Mary began. "It's alright." A tall brunette laughed. "You're one of the other tenants right? From upstairs?" He asked. "Right, yes I am. I'm Mary Wallace, we met when you and your friend came to look at the place." Mary said, shaking the boy's hand. "Rocky Lynch, I remember. You sure made an impression." Rocky said. "Hey Rocky, I thought you were getting those last boxes?" A blonde boy showed up next to him, but he stopped talking when he saw Mary. "Oh, Hi. Now I see why Rocky was distracted. I'm Ross, his brother." Ross said reaching out his hand for Mary, which she shook. "Mary Wallace. Nice to meet you. Me and my friends live upstairs. Come on up when you need help unpacking. I'll just move out of your way for now, lovely to meet the both of you." And with that she made her way upstairs.

In her own apartment Mary was greeted by her other to roommates, Lydia and Charlotte. "I see you maneged to get up here through the busy movers. How was work?" Lydia asked, while making her way through a big plate of spagetti. "Great, how were your days?" Mary asked the both of them. "Great, had a nice sleep-in and maneged to get some housework done." Lydia responded. "And you Charlotte?" Mary asked her friend who had been a bit absorbed by some drawing she was making. "What? Oh yeah, great day. Got a new commission for a company logo today."  
All four girls worked in a different profession, but they were old High School friends that never lost touch. Mary worked the bookshop nextdoor, Lydia was a nurse, Charlotte a graphic designer and Lucy an artist. Lucy also worked in the restaurant downstairs to have some sort of steady income, while she worked on her paintings.

The girls were shaken up from their ponderings by a knock on their door. Mary stood up to answer, she opened the door to a somewhat shy Rocky. "Hi, You did say I could ask for help with unpacking right?"


	2. Chapter 2

_"Hi, You did say I could ask for help with unpacking right?"_

"Hi, I did say that didn't I. I'll be right down. Charlotte, maybe you can help too? If you have time of course." Mary spoke. Charlotte who had looked up from her drawing was already close. "Sure, Hi Charlotte Dawnes." She introduced herself. "Rocky Lynch, nice to meet you. Me and my friends appreciate the help." Rocky said. "I'm Lydia by the way!" Lydia shouted from behind the counter, wanting to introduce herself too. "Do you have time to help? Or do you have to get ready for your shift?" Mary asked her roommate. "No I have to go. I am interning to become a nurse, and my shift is about to start. Nice to meet you Rocky." Lydia said while grabbing her coat and walking to the door. "Cool, see you around." Rocky smiled at her while she left.

In the apartment downstairs the others had already started to unpack when Rocky, Mary and Charlotte arrived. "Hi everyone, these are our lovely neighbors." Rocky introduced us, Mary recognized Ross standing with a big box in his arms, the rest she didn't know yet. Another blonde boy walked up to us. "Hi, I'm Riker. This is Rydel, Ross, Ryland and our friend Ellington Ratliff." He said pointing in order to the girl, Ross and the two remaining brunettes. "Hi, I'm Charlotte Dawnes and this my friend and roommate Mary Wallace. We have two other roommates though. Lucy and Lydia." Charlotte introduced herself and Mary. "So what can we do to help?" Mary asked.  
"Well, we have a lot of boxes that need unpacking as you can see. We can do our own personal boxes but maybe you can start with the kitchen stuff?" Riker asked.

Mary and Charlotte started organizing the kitchen-tools when Charlotte noticed something. "Hey Mary, I don't think they a whisk, and I've only seen one spatula so far." Mary looked up from organizing the cups and plates. "Really, how about knives? Do they got enough of those?" Mary asked. Charlotte looked around for a bit but then shook her head. "They are missing about half a standard tool-set." "Hmmm." Mary pondered. "Hey I got an idea, do you think you can handle this by yourself for a minute? I need to ask Mrs. Johnson something." And she ran off leaving Charlotte without a clue of what was going on.  
"Hey, where's Mary?" Rocky had come out his room. "Honestly? No clue. She'll be back though, she can be a bit impulsive sometimes." Charlotte explained. Rocky took a seat on one of the barstools. "Thanks again for helping out. So I know Lydia is a nurse, what is it you do?" He asked. Charlotte continued putting things away while she answered. "Well I'm a graphic designer, Mary works in the bookshop nextdoor and writes a bit every once in a while. And Lucy is an artist, she makes amazing paintings that hang all over the restaurant where she works to have a steady income. We all work downstairs every once in while, when Mr. and Mrs. Johnson need our help." She explained. "So how did you guys meet?" This time it was Rydel talking. "Well we went to the same High School, we were great friends back then and we promised each other that at one point we would all live together. And now we do, for a few years now. It started as a joke since three of us needed a place at the same time, but we love it here. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are like a second mom and dad to all of us, we can do what we want to do in life and grow with our best friends by our side." Charlotte explained again. "That's really cool."

Downstairs Mary was looking for Mrs. Johnson, and she found her fast enough. "Mrs. Johnson!" "Oh hello Mary dear, what can I help you with?" She asked. "Mrs. Johnson, would it be okay if the girls and I use the restaurants kitchen tonight? Charlotte and I were helping the new tenants unpack and we noticed some vital kitchen-tools missing, so I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to throw them a welcome-to-the-building dinner." Mary said. Mrs. Johnson jumped up and clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh that sounds like a wonderful idea. Me and Mr. Johnson will help of course. I'll go tell him." And she sped off, which was quite an amusing sight as she was a very short and somewhat plump woman. Mary went to find Lucy to inform her of her plans, she found her staring at an empty wall, pondering. "Lucy, here you are. Hey, Me and Mrs. Johnson had the idea to throw the new tenants a welcome-to-the-building dinner. Are you in?" Mary asked. Lucy woke up out of her daydream. "Hmm what? Oh yeah sure. I saw them walk past, they are really cute aren't they?" Lucy said. "Yeah yeah, anyway. Charlotte and I are helping them unpack for now, when the restaurant closes can you set up a big table for all of us? Let's see they are five siblings and a friend, so six, plus us three makes nine and Mr. and Mrs. Johnson make eleven people." Mary did the math. "What you were in their apartment and left? Go! I'll take care of everything here. See you in a few hours."

Back upstairs Mary walked into the others taking a break to listen to Charlotte's stories. "I see a lot of work is done here." Mary joked. Some of them turned their head and went back to what they were doing, with a red head. Riker stood up and walked to Mary. "Impressive, usually it takes more than that to get them to do something." He said. "Speaking from experience?" Mary asked while she walked back to the kitchen. "Yup, I'm the oldest so I usually I keep them in line." He said leaning against the counter. "I am the oldest of me and my friends too, so they joke sometimes that I'm the older sister as well." Mary told Riker. "So where did you go off to?" He asked curiously. "That's a surprise, but I wouldn't order in dinner tonight." Mary said with a wink.


	3. Chapter 3

Mary walked back to Charlotte who was still busy with the kitchen. "Ready to tell me why you dissapeared?"Charlotte asked. Mary looked around to make sure no-one was listnening. "We're throwing a welcome-to-the-building dinner in the restaurant. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are helping too, Lucy is getting the table ready and we can use the kitchen." Mary explained. Charlotte's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea! Wait, do they know?" She nudged her head towards Riker, Rocky and Ratliff who were discussing how to install the T.V. "Not yet, it's a surprise. So if you get wind of someone ordering take out, you stop it okay." Mary instructed. "Got it."

An good hour later the T.V. was up and running, the kitchen was organized and most of the personal things were put away. "So are there any dinner plans yet? Because I'm starving." Ryland said. Riker looked at Mary, who had told him not to order in. Mary looked at Charlotte, but then pulled out her phone. "There are. One second." She said, then walked off to call Lucy.

*Hey Lu, are you almost ready?*  
*Yeah, table is ready and Mr. and Mrs Johnson have actually started prepping for us.*  
*Great, Charlie and I will be right down.*

Mary had been walking back to the others so they heard the last sentence. "Is your boyfriend coming?" Riker asked nervously. Charlotte and Mary looked at each other and started giggling. "Charlie isn't a guy." Mary said, watching the confusion grow on the boy's and Rydel's faces. "I'm Charlie." Charlotte said, giggling still. The boys eyes shot open, Rydel seemed to get it though. "Wait, so you two are..." Rocky asked confused, yet hopeful. Charlotte and Mary decided to torture their new friends a little bit more. Mary walked ove to Charlotte and put her arm around her. "We are, what? Rocky?" His head was a bright red now, the other boys were shifting a bit uncomfortable. "You know, a couple?" Rocky managed to get out. Mary and Charlotte burst into laughter. "No Rocky, I'm sorry to disappoint you but we are not a couple, or lesbian for that matter." Charlotte explained. "And for the record, none of us girls upstairs got a boyfriend. But we should get going, Riker remember what I told you." Mary added while she and Charlotte walked out of the apartment. As on cue the boys all turned around to face Riker. "What did you and Mary talk about?" Ratliff asked. "She told me not to order in because she had a surprise planned." He just shrugged it off. "So should none of us order in? Or just you?" Rydel asked. "I think she meant all of us." Riker said quickly, then turned away. Some of his siblings and Ratliff kept their eyes on him, but Ross had different things on his mind. "So what ARE we doing for dinner?"

"Do they know?" Lucy asked when her two roommates came down to the restaurant. "I don't think so, but the boys did think that me and Mary were gay for a second." Charlotte said laughing. "What!" Lucy laughed. "Long story." Mary said. But we should get cooking before they decide to ignore my advise to not order in."  
After that they started cooking, simple dishes that were easy and quick to make, but still pretty tasty. It was lucky that we all pitched in in the kitchen every once in a while. It was mostly thanks to the amazing prepping Mr. and Mrs Johnson had done that they were pretty much done fifteen minutes later. Just in time Mary's phone started ringing, Riker's name popped up on the screen.

*Hey Riker. I guess you and your family are getting hungry huh?*  
*Yup, care to tell me what that surprise is supposed to be?*  
*Why don't you come downstairs and check it out, bring the others.*  
*Now that sounded sexy, right up until the 'bring the others' part.*  
*Cheeky one eh, just come down here and you'll see what that surprise is.*

Soon enough steps were heard in the staircase and the last finishing touches were added to the table. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had chosen not to attend, letting the young kids have their moment together. "They're coming." Lucy squealed. Mary and Charlotte just shook their heads in response.  
The rest walked into the restaurant, and their mouths just dropped. "Wow! Is this, is this for us?" Riker asked shyly. His siblings and friends uttering versions of the same sentence. "Yup. It's a welcome-to-the-building dinner. Oh have you guys met Lucy yet?" Mary said, introducing a suddenly shy Lucy. Lucy just waved, but the youngest two boys gave her some very nice smiles.

When everyone was sitting down and eating, conversation picked up. "So you are the third neighbor, but there is a fourth right?" Ratliff asked Lucy. "Yeah, Lydia. She is interning to become a nurse. Sadly she is working now but she'll be here tomorrow. You can meet her then, she is really nice." Lucy said. "Charlotte told us you're an artist?" Rocky said. "Yeah, see that painting over there, the one of the beach, I made that one. Just like pretty much every painting down here." Lucy explained, uncharacteristically calm. "Wow, it's really beautiful. You're really good." Rydel praised. Lucy started blushing but kept her cool, she was always selfconcious about her work. "So who cooked all this?" Riker asked in general. Lucy, Charlotte and Mary just looked at each other. "We cooked together, but Mr. and Mrs. Johnson prepped for us. We invited them, but they wanted this to be just us. Lucy did the greens and veggies, Charlotte the meats and I did the potatoes." Mary explained. Riker who had been sitting next to her, leaned in closer to whisper something in Mary's ear. "They taste amazing." Making Mary smile in a way she didn't usually smile, she was truly flattered and a bit giddy. She giggled a bit before uttering. "Thank you." Usually she was calm and collected, kind but rational, always polite and clever. But just talking to this boy made blood rush to her cheeks, tied her tongue, and clouded her rationalism. It was that he was new, she didn't know him yet, it was exciting. It was his flirting charm that she wasn't used to. It were his kind eyes that she always fell for without any reason. That was it, it would pass, she was sure. Just a fase, just a fase.


	4. Chapter 4

Mary was working in her bookshop as usual, thinking about the night before. Dinner had been a great succes, everyone had a great time and got to know their neighbors better. Lydia had shown up just in time for dessert, with a big smile on her face. Apparrently she had to help in the maternity ward and got to help with delivering two babies. She was so amazed by it all that she decided to make it her expertise.  
"That's great Lydia. It's sounds like the perfect thing for you." Mary said, while giving her friend a big hug. "And if I ever get married and have kids, you can deliver them if you want to." She continued. "Of course." When Mary sat down to give her other roommates a chance to hug Lydia Riker leaned in to say something. "Don't you need a boyfriend first?" Making Mary blush, something that did not go unnoticed by her new arrived friend. "Hey guys, you know I need to study for all that first, right?" Lydia joked.

Her friends joked, buf whenever Mary wasn't thinking about something important or working on something, she found her mind drifting to the oldest new neighbor. She kept telling herself that it was nothing, but deep down she wasn't all that sure.  
"Hello?" Mary's train of thought was interrupted by a male voice, a customer that wanted attention. "Hello. Can I help you?" Mary was walking towards the voice, until she saw him standing between some bookshelves. A young man, her own age, tall, muscular and with wild dark hair. The boy had noticed her too and started smiling. "Hi, I was wondering if you could help me pick a birthday gift for my grandmother. She might be old and in a wheelchair, but her mind is still very sharp. She loves reading." He said. Mary tried her best to keep her composure, though with difficulty. "That's so sweet of you, I'll see what I can do to help. Does she like novels or non-fiction?" She asked. "Novels, hand down, she loves stories. But mostly real ones, or based on true stories, if you have some historical it would be great." The boy answered. Mary went to grab a few examples, when she almost bumped into Lucy. "Hey Mary, You busy?" Lucy asked. "A bit, can it wait? I'm with a customer." Mary asked, nudging her head towards the young man who was looking around by himself now. Lucy's eyes shot open. "You take all the time you need honey. I'll be right here." She said, pointing towards some random books. Mary rolled her eyes but went back to the boy.

"So I got some ideas here. This one's about slavery, very emotional and touching story but a very heavy read. These two are about world war two, this one's about a heroic soldier who traded places with a man going to Auswitz, and this one is the story of a little girl who saved books from being destroyed by the Nazi's." Mary summarized the books she had gathered. The boy thought about it, but then grabbed _The Book thief. _"The one with the little girl. Thank you, it's perfect. I wouldn't have found it without your help." The boy praised when they walked to the cash register. "It's what I'm here for, do you want me to wrap it?" Mary asked. "Yeah, thanks. I'm horrible with that kind of stuff." He threw Mary a sweet smile. "Alright. It's a great book, your grandmother is gonna love it." Mary said. "Have you read it?" The boy asked. "Yeah, it's beautiful. Very touching." "Good thing I asked your expertise then." The boy sure was charming.  
He paid for his book and started to head out, but three steps in and he turned around. "You know what, Mary right? Would you like to go out sometime?"He asked, Mary was taken aback. "Wh, What? I don't even know your name yet." She stammered. "Jesse, Jesse Wilson. Now will you go out with me?" Mary had no clue what to do, totaly confused by it all. "How about, I just give you my number. And you call me when you have an answer." Jesse simply nodded.

When Jesse had left, Lucy came out fro the bookshelves. "What just happened?" Mary asked. "You got asked out by a really hot guy, and you hesitated! You hesitated, you don't hesitate when a guy like that asks you out, you say Heck yes!" Lucy rambled. Mary sighed. "What did you wanted to ask anyway?" She asked. Lucy shook up from her thoughts and shook her head. "Don't know anymore. What I do know is that you are gonna call Jesse and tell him you'll go out with him." Lucy said. "Why would I do that?" Because you are single, and he is hot and charming. that's how these things work." Lucy explained. "I'm not doing anything yet, I'm almost done here anyway. Why don't you go home, I'll be right there." Mary tried to get rid of Lucy, so she could clear her head. "Good idea, then the others can tell you I'm right and you should call Jesse." And with that Lucy had darted out of the store. Leaving a very tired and confused Mary.


	5. Chapter 5

When Lucy got back to the apartment, she found not only Lydia and Charlotte, but also Rydel and the boys. "Are we having a party here?" Lucy joked casually. Then grabbed a coke and took a seat between Ross and Rocky. "Lydia, Charlie you won't believe what just happened next door. This hot guy came in and totaly flirted with Mary. He gave her his nuber but she turned him down." Lucy started. The girls were shocked, but Riker's face showed some mixed emotions. "What! How hot was he? Like cute, or smoking?" Charlotte asked. "About to conbust into flames." Lucy responded. "I'm starting to get a bit uncomportable here." Ross said. His pleas were ignored by the girls. "So why did she turn down this one?" Lydia asked. "Wait this one? This happens more often?" Riker asked. "Well not like all the time. But every once in a while a cute guy shows interest in her and she always finds a flaw. She didn't really say what was wrong with this one. You'd think she'd be over Joshua by now. Her ex." Lucy explained. "Yeah, it's been how long? two years?" Lydia continued. "What happened with this Joshua guy?" Rydel asked. "He was a big jerk. All smooth and charming in the beginning, but he changed really fast. She broke it up, never said exactly why, but we think he did something she is not talking about." Charlotte told them. "We have been trying to get her mind of him and notice other boys, but so far no luck."  
"Wait, so she broke up with him, but she's still hung up on him too?" Ross asked. "We don't think that's it, she defiantely doesn't want him back. But she hasn't noticed other guys either." Lucy asnwered. "So there were no guys after this Joshua jerk?"Ratliff asked. "Well some guys, a few dates here and there, we think even a one night stand, but never anyone serious." Lydia said. "So you don't think you're pushing too hard?" Riker asked. "Nah, she's ready, she just needs to gett back on the horse. Maybe not a realtionship, but she definately needs to get some." Lucy said, making the boys almost spit out their drinks. "and on that note, I'm going back to our place, start dinner." Riker said, getting up.

Mary was walking up the stairs to her place when she noticed someone standing in the middle of the staircase. A tall blonde someone. "Hey Riker, been hanging out at our place I see." She said. "Yeah, the others are still there, but I'm starting dinner. That and the conversation got a bit weird." He said. "With those three, I'm not surprised. What were they talking about?" Mary asked, meeting Riker on the same level. "In all honesty? You." "Me?" "Yeah, and that you need to get laid." He said bluntly. "Ah, I see Lucy has told you about Jesse. The boy from the bookshop." Riker nodded. "Yeah, I can understand why it would make you uncomfortable. I would have ran out the apartment the moment it came up." She joked. "They do this often?" Riker asked. "Awkward conversations or this particular topic?" This topic." "All the time, they are always joking that I need to get some. Their words not mine." Riker just chuckled, moving a bit closer so he could whisper something. "You know, I'm always available. If you ever decide you want some." He joked with a big grin on his face. Mary just laughed and gently punched his arm. "Oh shut up."  
Both of them started walking to their own apartments, but Mary turned around at the last step to watch Riker get out of sight.

When Mary walked through the door she took in the sight of everyone staring at her. "So if our place is going to be the hangout, why did we unpack all that stuff at your place anyway." She said, waving her hand in the general direction of the Lynch's and Ratliff. "Oh and I ran into Riker on my way up. And I don't need to get laid or anything." Mary continued while walking past Lucy, grabbing her shoulders. "So let it go alright!" Lucy laughed and got up, following Mary. "You know I won't. I will not rest untill I fix you up with someone, and if it's not Jesse than someone else, maybe a cute someone who just moved into the building." She said with a wink. Since Lucy hadn't been whispering, the whole room heard that last comment. The boys suddenly started to act strange, amking the girls laugh. "Rydel, you'll help me right?" Lucy asked. Rydel giggled. "Yeah sure. Do you have someone in mind?" "Yeah, who do you have in mind Lu?" Rocky asked. Lucy waved for the girls, all except Mary to come closer. "So did you guys catch that smile when Mary said she ran into Riker? And last night she was acting weird around him too. If it's alright with you Rydel, I want to set Mary up with your brother." Lucy whispered.

"No fair, we want to know. Are you talking about us?" Ross complained. "I it eases your mind Ross, I don't think they are talking about you. I'm two years older that you, so Rocky, Ratliff or Riker are more likely. Sorry Ryland." Mary explained. "You're twenty?" Rocky asked. "Yeah, I don't look it I know. But I really am twenty." Mary said, her comment was met with a wink from Rocky. "What's up." "I'll tell you what I told your brother, shut up." Rocky's phone buzzed. "It's riker, he wants me to help with dinner." He said getiing up. "I'll come too, I need to start ours as well and if I'm coocking over at your place it gives me a excellent excuse not to be here and teased about cute bookshop guys." Mary said. "We can have dinner togheter again, if you guys like that." She asked in general. Her idea was answered with heavy nodding and a lot of yeah's so Rocky and Mary gathered the groceries and some more knies and cutting boards and went downstairs. "So now tell me the real reason you want to help me and Riker cook."


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, you took your time, oh. Hey." Riker said when Rocky and Mary entered the apartment. "I'm not complaining or anything, but why are you here Mary?" Riker asked. "Good, always nice to know your presence is appreciated. I had the idea of cooking together, since Lydia is here today. Now we can have a real group dinner." Mary explained. "Cool, but do we have enough then?" Riker asked. "That's why we brought this." Rocky answered, putting the bags of groceries on the table.  
after that they started cooking, which proved a challenge on a small space like their kitchen. "I'll just move to the other side of the counter." Mary said, moving her cutting board. "So who do you think the girls are going to fix you up with?" Rocky asked with a wink. "What? Did I miss something?" Riker asked confused. "Haha, yeah. The girls are hell-bent on getting me boyfriend or something and since I pretty much veto'd Jesse out they are going to try to fix me up with, as they put it, 'a cute someone who just moved into the building'. Well, Ryland and Ross are three and two years younger, so I think they are out. I have a year on Rocky, am the same age as Ellington and you're even older than me. So I think it's going to be one of you three." Mary explained again. "So you're saying I have a shot?" Rocky joked. "I'm saying I know my roommates." Mary joked. Riker just chuckled. "So if it were up to you, who would you choose?" Riker put Mary on the spot. She blushed, but regained herself quickly enough. "I'm not saying anything about that when you two are carrying knives." She shot back. "Ah no, you're not getting out of this one. C'mon be honest." Rocky challenged her. She sighed and thought about it carefully. "I wouldn't know. I mean we only know each other for like three days. Plus you are all so wonderful." She said while standing on her toes to ruffle Rocky's hair playfully. "These are ready." "Hey, leave my hair alone!" Riker was laughing at it all, Rocky's failing attempts at flirting and Mary's snappy comebacks. "And with Ellington not here it's kinda unfair to judge between the three of you." Mary continued. "So just between me and Rocky then." Riker said, surprising Mary by standing behind her all of the sudden. "Oh no, I'm not choosing between brothers. I learned that the hard way. Before I worked nextdoor, I worked in a small diner where two twin brothers worked. And every chance they got they would always ask the female employees which one of the two was cuter, or funnier, or more handsome, they were almost identical! Those little squabble's went on the whole night once it had started." Mary protested. The boys looked at each other. "We'll get an answer out of you by the end of the night." Rocky said with a grin. "Oh dear."

The rest of the cooking was filled with flirty moments. Rocky kept 'accidentally' bumping into Mary, Riker hovering over her while she was watching the pan, holding her hand, guiding the spatula. Mary scoffed it all off as the boys just playing around, but silently she really liked the attention. Usually it was Lucy or Charlie who got the boys like this.  
The food was almost ready, so now they were starting to think of where they all would eat. "Well it's not exactly fine dining, so how about everyone takes a plate of grub while we all watch a movie or something." Riker suggested. "Sounds like a plan, shall I ask the girls to bring some more plates? Because I don't think you guys have enough." Mary agreed. "Tell them to bring glasses as well." Rocky said, while inspecting the cabinets. "It's decided then?" Riker asked. "Yup." Mary said, already texting.

When every one was down and had a plate of food the movie discussion began. Soon enough the choices were reduced two, Cloudy with a chance meatballs and I am number four. After a long discussion, during most of the food had been eaten, the group decided on I am number four. Mary was seated between Riker and Rocky, despite her efforts otherwise. Lucy gave her a pat on the back and a knowing wink, which was met with a scowl.  
During the movie Rocky had put his arm around Mary, beating his brother to it. At first she just rolled her eyes at it, but when the fighting became more vicious and the scenes more emotional she buried her face in his shoulder. Rocky grabbed the opportunity to pull her closer. "Guess that I won." He whispered to her, soft enough not to disturb the others but loud enough for Riker to hear. Who just rolled his eyes at him.

"So who is doing the dishes?" Riker asked after the movie was done. "We did the cooking, so we're not doing the washing up." Mary said. "You just don't want to move away from Rocky." Lydia teased. "That is completely beside the point." Mary shot back. "That's no denial." Rocky said. "Oh shut up you." She said, giving Rocky a playful shove, but still not getting up. "I'll volunteer, but I'm not doing it on my own." Lucy said. "I'll help." Charlotte stood up. Ross elbowed Ryland and he in return nodded. "We'll help too." And they too walked to the kitchen. "I have an early shift tomorrow, so I'll just go to bed now. Have a great evening guys." Lydia said while walking away.  
After the dishes were done everyone hung out a bit, until Charlotte and Mary got up to go to bed as well, dragging Lucy with them. On their way back upstairs lucy elbowed Mary playfully. "I guess you had the best seat in the house didn't you?" "Oh haha. I know you are going to set me up with one of the boys, so just give a break." Mary responded. "Alright, we won't bug you anymore on it. But you had to admit, you were pretty quick to cuddle up tonight."


	7. Chapter 7

Yeah, so my account has been acting weird, so it took me a while to upload. Sorry for the wait guys.

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It was hot, incredibly hot. And to top it all off, did the bookstore's air-co break down. Mary was sweating but she had hope, her shift was almost over. Only fifteen more minutes, only fifteen more. "Mary, do you want to go home early? It's less hours pay, but it's a slow day and very hot." Mary's boss asked. "Ahh yes, thank you!" Mary exclaimed. And before her boss could even chuckle she had already grabbed her bag. "See you tomorrow." Mary said, then walked out the door.

Upstairs in the apartment she found two of her roommates hanging out the window. "I know it's hot, but you'll let more air in if you don't block the wind." Mary said while putting her purse down. "Shhh." Lucy said. Not even bothering to look around and waving her to the window too. "What's so interesting ... Ah I see." Outside the two oldest Lynch boys were doing some yard-work, without a shirt. "Mrs. Johnson asked for a favor, little does she know it's not just for her."Lydia whispered. "Down!" Lucy said, puling her and Lydia out of sight when Rocky looked up. Sadly Mary was too confused to react fast enough, so while the other girls were out of sight, Mary was caught. "Hey Mary, enjoying the view?" Rocky asked. Riker turned around too, now noticing they had an audience, with a big grin on his face. "Oh I am. Those bushes are looking great." She teased back. "Right, the bushes" Riker said. "Anyway, have fun you two." Mary said walking away from the window.

"Lu, did you still need a model for that angel painting?" Mary asked. "I do, but I kinda want to watch this." Lucy said. "I know, but I got an evil plan to get those boys a bit worked up." Mary said. Both girls turned around. "We're listening." "Your studio has a window to the yard right, so if either Lydia or me models in front of the window, the boys can see us right?" Mary started. Her roommates nodding in agreement. "Curtain down and a spotlight to create contrast, or do you want to do plain view?" Lucy asked, knowing what Mary was thinking. "Let's start with the curtain, show them a nice silhouette. The third looks out this window to see if the boys are looking, if they're not, no curtain." Mary said. "So which one of you is modelling?" Lucy asked. Lydia and Mary exchanged a few glances. "I'd rather be the lookout." Lydia said. "Guess I'll be the model." Mary said.

Lucy gave Mary a very flowing and revealing white dress, and directed her in the right position for her painting. When Mary was in place and Lucy ready to start drawing, Lydia turned on the spotlight. Twilight was coming in and Mary's silhouette was very visible and clear from the yard. "Are they looking?" Mary asked. "Oh they are looking alright." Lydia said laughing. "Oh they have no idea what to do now, they are just standing there gaping." "Ask them if they are enjoying the view." Lucy said, making the girls burst into laughter. "Hey boys, enjoying the view?" Lydia asked. The boys now noticed her in the window. "What are you girls doing in there?" Riker asked. "Not that we're complaining." Rocky added. The girls had a right fit of giggles. "Mary is modelling for Lucy's painting." Lydia said.  
"Hey Lyd, I think we should get some of that dusk. Think you can raise the curtain?" Lucy shouted, loud enough for the boys to hear. Lydia glanced down to see the astonished looks on their faces. "Sure."  
Slowly Lydia raised the curtain, showing the Mary's back. Part of the outfit was not wearing a bra, so the boys had an excellent view of Mary's bare back. Eyes almost popping out and jaws dropped they just stood there, gaping. "Guys what are you looking at?" Ross voice came from the window below. He. of course, couldn't see what his brothers were seeing, but only saw them standing in the backyard like statues. "Come down and see fore yourself bro." Rocky said. The girls upstairs were laughing and giggling. Until they heard a soft knock on the door. Lydia opened the door to see Rydel standing there. "My brothers are acting weird, what are you guys doing?" She asked. "Come on in, we'll show you." Lydia said.

"Hey Rydel." Mary said nonchalant as Lydia showed their guest the art studio. "Well this explains a lot." Rydel said, trying to hold back some giggles. "Hey Lyd, who are watching now?" Mary asked. Lydia rushed to the window to see Riker, Rocky, Ross, Ryland and Ratliff all standing outside. "Hey Lydia, That is not really Mary right? I mean she and Charlotte have the same hair, it can't be Mary." Riker asked hopefully. "Nope, it really is Mary." Lydia said, giggling. "The shy one, working in the bookshop." Riker kept asking. "The very same one." Rocky whistled softly.  
"Hey Mary, I think I got what I need." Lucy said, knowing that the boys could hear her too. "Thanks again." "No problem." Mary said. Getting up and walking away from the window, not once turning around. Hearing plenty of groans and protests. "Sorry boys, show's over." Lydia said. closing the window.

Once out of sight, the four girls just started laughing hysterically. "Show's over?" Mary asked. "It seemed fitting." Lydia said. "It was genius! Mary my friend I think your evil plan worked perfectly, as a fellow evil mastermind, I am so proud." Lucy said. Patting Mary's back. "Sorry for conning your brother's like that Rydel." Mary said. "Nah, it was funny to see those faces. Did we get pictures?" She asked. "We did." Lydia said, holding up her phone. Making the group laugh again, while showing the pictures. "Oh those are beautiful!" Mary said. "We have to show Charlie these when she gets back." She continued. "Oh she's gonna be pissed that she missed this." Lucy predicted.

Downstairs in the yard, the boys just kept standing there for a few minutes. "I think we rented the perfect place." Ross said. "Oh yeah."


	8. Chapter 8

It was weekend and R5 was hanging out at the girls place. No-one had brought up the modelling thing but the boys kept stealing glances at Mary, and she noticed.  
Lydia was at the hospital and Lucy was working on a art-history course assignment. She was doing it in her room and clearly having some difficulty with it judging by the annoyed grunts coming from behind the door.

"Lu, do you need some help with that?" Mary offered after another 'Aaaarghh' had come from Lucy's room. "You don't happen to know anything about Italian Renaissance iconography do you?" She asked frustrated. "Italian what?" Ross asked. "Iconography, the study of symbols and I'm guessing the assignment is on the Italian Renaissance." Charlotte answered. "Yeah, we got some sets of artworks and with every set one doesn't fit in. I finished every one but I can't figure out this one." Lucy said, coming out of her room and holding a piece of paper. "I can see why, this looks hard." Rocky said while looking at the pictures. This grabbed everyone's curiosity and soon several people were guessing what it could be.  
"Hey guys, let me take a good look at those, I know a few things about history and art." Mary said after laughing at some of the suggestions. "Italian Renaissance too?" Lucy said, slightly mocking. "Try me." Lucy gave her the paper and Mary studied the works.

"This is actually a very clever assignment, instead of just giving the students a work of art and letting them point everything out, the student must filter the different symbols to see which ones are relevant." Mary started. "Yes, the professor is a genius, but can you figure it out?" Lucy said impatiently. "It's an easy one, here you have a Michelangelo's _David, _a statue celebrating the simple herder after slaying Goliath. Then a statue of Mother Theresa having a vision, a painting of St. Peter in front of the gates of heaven, see his key? And the last painting shows us the beautiful Europe and Zeus, disguised as a bull to seduce the young woman into to running away with him." Charlotte, having figured it out herself, stood there smiling proudly at Mary's little lecture while the others were practically gaping. "I figured that much, but I can't see which one is singled out. there are two statues, two paintings. Two people holding an object and two figures without. It's two one two every time." Lucy complained, but seriously listening. "It's obvious, Lu. It's not is the material used, or small detailed symbols, there is a way in-between. What stories do these works tell us? David and Goliath, a famous biblical story. Mother Theresa, a devoted nun. St. Peter, so holy and great they named the biggest Catholic Church ever build after the guy. And Europe and Zeus, Greek mythology? That seems out of place doesn't it?" Mary explained. "Of course, how could I have been so blind!" Lucy said, picking up the paper and running back in her room. "Thanks Mary!" She yelled before closing the door again.

The boys were still looking in awe at Mary. "That was amazing! How did you know all that?" Riker asked. "Who do you think recommended going to that class to Lu in the first place? And I work in a bookstore, how come you still haven't figured out that I'm a huge nerd by now?" Mary laughed. "When did you first saw it?" Charlotte asked. "_David _and a painting of a girl and a bull in one line? That can't be right. How about you, what was your first clue Charlie?" Mary said. "The bull too, but I saw it later because I was too focused on the _David." _Charlotte said. "And who could blame ya?" Mary joked. "I got a better six-pack." Ross said cocky. "Do you now?" Lucy had come out of her room and overheard his statement. "Oh yeah." Ross replied, still cocky as ever. "See we wouldn't know that for sure. We saw Riker and Rocky last week, but not you." Lu continued. "You liked what you saw didn't you?" Rocky said leaning in towards Lucy. Lucy sat down on the couch with a big smile and looked at her roommates. "If it had been a picture I would've thought you were photoshopped." Charlotte said. Rocky and Riker leaned back in their seats with a big grin. "How about you Mary, what did you think?" Riker asked. "You really want know?" She dared him. "I do." "I thought it was very brave to be pruning those sharp bushes without a shirt. I mean if you lean forward only a little bit those branches would leave scratches." Mary replied. "Ooooh snap." Ratliff yelled. "But now were are talking about nice views, we noticed you guys were very interested in Mary posing for my painting." Lucy started. "So you admit that it was a nice view?" Rocky asked. "It certainly was." Lucy whispered in his ear, while getting up to get a drink. "Yeah how is that painting coming along?" Mary asked. "Wanna see?" Lucy said. Her quistion was answered by a range of 'Yeah's' from the boys and some 'sure's from the girls. "I'll go get it then." She said, putting her Cola can down.

When Lucy emerged from her room carrying the canvas some eyes almost popped. "Wow Lu, you made me look amazing! I love how you used that late afternoon dusk in the background, it really makes the wings shine." Mary said. "What do you think about the beam of light in the front? Is it too much?" Lucy asked. "No I think it's very subtle, but enough to notice and to lay the attention on the angel's expression not the wings or the dress, but the emotion." Mary said. "What do you guys think?" Lucy asked the rest of the group. "I love how your eye get's drawn to her face, but not ignoring the fact that she's an angel. Which makes it even more intriguing." Charlotte said. "What they said." Riker said, eyes still wide open and waving towards Mary and Charlie. "I still have to do some final touches, like finishing the dress." Lucy said. "I like the dress, love the dress." Ross said very quickly. "I think I'm gonna put it back in my room, before someone's eye pops out." Lucy joked. "But thanks for the feedback." "Anytime." Mary said, staring at the facial expression of the boys. She leaned forward towards Riker and whisper something only he could hear. "Looks even better from the front doesn't it."


	9. Chapter 9

So I'm going to pair up characters here, if you have any suggestions to who belongs with whom, please do tell me. Mostly because I haven't really figured it out yet.  
Oh my third R5 story has been deleted, not by me, but by very important people, or I think. I clicked on manage stories and it was suddenly missing so my thoughts are that it has been deleted. I could upload it again, but then again, it might just get deleted once more. It's better this way because now I can focus on just one story instead of two.

* * *

"So what do you think Lucy is gonna do with the angel painting?" Riker asked Mary. She was working in the store and he was bored so he decided to come down and be a distraction. "I don't know to be honest. I thought it was going to either a gallery or it was an assignment. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson probably won't hang it in the restaurant so she has to sell it some other way." Mary answered. "And you are fine with that?" Riker asked. Leaning on the counter Mary was working on. "Why wouldn't I be?" She stated. "Because, maybe some creep will buy it. Staring at you all day, doing God knows what." Riker said, he had clearly put some thought into this. "I appreciate your concern, I really do. But it's a work of art now. In Lucy's hands and I trust her judgement. And if someone wants to stare at me, I prefer they stare at the painting instead of bothering me in real life." She explained. "Well you might be fine with it, but I have my doubts." Riker simply said, turning around to lean back on the counter while Mary walked into the store to stack some shelves. "You do know I'm not your little sister, you don't have to protect me from big scary men?" Mary joked. Riker walked over to the shelves Mary was stocking and looked her n the eyes. "Just because you're not related, doesn't mean I don't care enough about you to let some guy take advantage of you." He said, dead serious. Mary sighed and smiled weakly. She walked up to Riker and softly placed her hand on his cheek. "I care for you too." She said. "But I'm a grown woman, I know how to take care of myself." She said. "Yet you work a dead end job in a dusty old bookstore. You are one of the smartest people I know, why work here?" He asked, waving around. "There's more to the story than that." Mary said, slightly angry at Riker for questioning her judgement. Walking away from him to stock again, this time a different aisle. "Then tell me. Why waste your brilliant mind working for minimum wage?" Riker pleaded, walking after Mary. "Why?" He whispered when she was looking at him again. Looking in her eyes, he saw that she was thinking about it, but he could also pin-point the moment she shut down on him. "I- I can't. Just trust me that I have my reasons to work here, and if it bothers you this much I wont pose for Lucy again. But just trust me on this, please." She was now pleading for him to let this go, to leave the subject alone, tears slowly building up behind her eyes. Riker pulled Mary into a hug when he saw the look in her eyes. "Fine, and you can pose if you want to. Just don't let my brothers see it." He joked while he had her in a warm embrace. She chuckled, but slowly moved away. He grabbed her shoulders and looked down, trying to meet her eyes. "I know there are some things you don't want to talk about, but you can't keep bottling it up inside. You can tell me anything, I won't think less of you. I trust you on this, but you have to trust me too." He said. "I do, I do trust you." Mary sighed. "Tonight, after dinner, come to the roof. I'll tell you everything you need to know then. If you want." Mary said, looking in Riker's eyes.

The doorbell rang, a customer had walked in and was browsing. "I will, see you there then." Riker said and he started to walk out of the store. Right before he reached the door Mary yelled his name, making him turn around on the spot. "You're a good man Riker. You should know that." Mary said, then disappeared between the rows of shelves.

Back in the Lynch's apartment Rocky was lying on the couch humming something and writing things down, as Riker walked in. Slightly fazed and confused, he almost sat down on his brother. "Dude!" Rocky yelled just in time to wake up Riker from his pondering. "Oh sorry." Riker mindlessly apologized and sat down in a chair. "What's wrong with you?" Rocky asked, noticing that his brother was acting widely out of character. "What oh yeah. I just spoke with Mary down at the bookshop. Got me thinking." He answered, not sure how much details he could tell Rocky. "You're acting weird, what did she say?" Rocky asked further. "I'm not sure if I can tell you." Riker said honestly. "Hey no secrets between brothers what's going on?" Rocky was getting worried, Riker was his brother and Mary a good friend. "I'm not sure if it is a secret, let alone if it's my secret to tell. But if you must know. I asked Mary why she worked at that shop, she's so smart, she can work anywhere, but she chooses to work down there. Anyway, that question didn't land well and she got a bit upset. She's fine now, I think, I don't know for sure, but she's not mad at me anymore so that's a good thing, I hope." Riker explained. Rocky shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "But she said she cared about me, or something like that. I don't get her sometimes." Riker continued. "I know, she talks like some old sophisticated rich woman sometimes. Not cocky, but you know." Rocky said. "Yeah, it's hot." Riker laughed. "Oh yeah." Rocky agreed.  
"Anyway, I'm meeting her tonight on the roof. She wants to talk then. I have no clue what to expect, but I'm gonna be there." Riker said, standing up to walk to the kitchen. "Tonight? On the roof?" Rocky asked in disbelief. "Her idea." Riker said opening the fridge. "Damn." Rocky whispered. "Yeah, I know."


	10. Chapter 10

It seems some, or at least one, have gotten angry at me for writing this. This person signed the review but didn't leave a link for me to reply. If you see this, I would like to make my case, I have upgraded the rating if that's what you were worried about. As to the characters I use and the Lynch family, I have no desire to hurt their feelings, I try to be flattering to say the least. This person has threatened to make this website delete my story, just like my other story has been deleted, I will not cave for this. I still have the original chapters and I can upload them anywhere, doesn't have to be here.

There that was my brave stand off, now on with the story.

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The roof was a popular place for the girls if they ever needed to clear their heads, whenever one of them was worried about something, there is where they could most likely be found. That's why Mary chose the roof, it was a sacred place to her. A place to be honest with yourself and others, and that was what she was planning to be.  
She had brought some blankets and the girls kept an old mattress hidden under some junk up there. To make it more comfortable to watch the stars, or what stars you could see with the city lights. Mary was almost done when she heard the door open. Quickly she turned around, expecting to see the blond boy but surprised when she saw her oldest friend walk towards her.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lydia asked. Mary sighed. "Yes, I am sure. He deserves to know, or at least parts of it." Mary answered. Lydia walked closer to her friend. "Remember what happened last time?" She warned. "Almost, what almost happened. I was young and foolish, it won't happen again." Mary said bluntly. "Yet here you are, ready to do the same, to tell another boy." Lucy exclaimed. "I never told him anything, he already knew. He was playing me from the start, he tricked me." Mary explained. "What if Riker is doing the same? Or one of his brothers?" Lucy started to get desperate, she really didn't want her friend to make the same mistake she did years ago. She didn't want her to get hurt again. "I know I can trust him Lydia. I know I can. And by the way, aren't you always saying I should start dating again?" Mary said. "Yes dating, not telling your secret to the first boy with a winning smile. I'm just watching out for you, you know that. I can't watch you going through the heartbreak again, not when I could have done something to stop it." Lydia said, tears welling up behind her eyes. Mary walked over to her friend and gave her a big hug. "I know you mean well, I do. I love you Lydia, and I appreciate you trying to protect me. But this is something I have to do, you just have to trust me." Mary soothed Lydia. "I love you to Mary, just be careful with what you tell him alright. We don't know how much he can handle." Lydia said while walking back to the door. "I will, no go. He should be here any minute now." Mary said, then watched Lydia disappear behind the metal door.

-Moments before-  
Riker was walking up the stairs, past the girls door, to the roof. Ready to open the door when he heard voices. "... what happened last time?" He could immediately place the voice, but it was a girl. "Almost, what almost happened. I was young and foolish, it won't happen again." Mary! But who was she talking to and what were they talking about? What happened? "Yet here you are, ready to do the same, to tell another boy." The first voice again. They were talking about him, and the first voice didn't agree with Mary's decision. "I never told him anything, he already knew. He was playing me from the start, he tricked me." Who were they talking about now? Not him, right? "What if Riker is doing the same?" Nope not about him, well now they were. "Or one of his brothers?" This girl had serious trust issue's. "I know I can trust him Lydia. I know I can. And by the way, aren't you always saying that I should start dating again?" Mary's voice, wait, Lydia! Why didn't Lydia trust him? What's going on? "Yes dating, not telling your secret to the first boy with a winning smile. I'm just watching out for you, you know that. I can't watch you going through the heartbreak again, not when I could have done something to stop it." Lydia again, so she didn't have something personal against him, Riker thought. The voices were to muffled to hear now, but suddenly he heard footsteps coming his way. Riker scurried down some steps so Lydia wouldn't see him. He heard the door open and waited until Lydia came down the stairs. "Hey Lydia, is Mary up there?" Riker asked innocently. "Yeah, she is waiting for you." Lydia said, riker stepped forward to move past her when she grabbed his arm. "Just be careful with her alright." She said darkly. "I will." Riker answered, dead serious. Then continued up the stairs, followed by Lydia's gaze.

When Riker opened the rooftop door he noticed Mary standing close to the edge, watching the skies. She had changed her clothes since he saw her last at the store. Now she was wearing a long but light dress, and her hair down. Usually she wore decent blazers and her hair in a bun, now she let the wind play with it all. He admired her from a distance before speaking up. "Hey, so I'm here. What is it you wanted to talk about?" Riker carefully asked. Mary turned around to see where the voice had come from, then smiled.


	11. Chapter 11

"You came." Mary said, relieved. "Of course I did." Riker said, walking towards the girl. "Do you want to sit down?" Mary asked, pointing at the mattress laying ready. She sat down, Riker joining her in silence. "I know you got some questions. You'd be a fool not to." Mary said. "I do." Riker said. "But are you sure you're ready to tell me?" He asked. Putting his arm around her. Mary layed her head on his shoulder, moving closer to him. "I am. Ask away." She whispered. Riker was quiet for a moment, carefully thinking about his first question. "Who is Joshua?" Mary sighed, not very eager to re-live those memories. "Short version, he's a bad ex. Long version, he tricked me in thinking he cared for me, that he loved me, turned out he never did. He was after things I coud offer him." She explained. "What things?" Riker asked, shifting in his seat so he would face Mary. "You can tell me." Mary looked into his eyes and was torn. A part of her wanted to fall into those deep brown eyes, tell him everything, to melt into his arms, to trust him. But another part told her that she'd been down this road before, that she thought someone was to be trusted, but stomped on her heart.

Riker saw her internal struggle, it showed in her eyes. "Mary." He softly whispered, drawing her back to earth. "What did he do?" She swallowed, and made up her mind. "He played me. See, I'm a guardian. There is a very old book in the shop downstairs, and it's my duty to protect it and it's contents to those who mean harm. It's been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. When I met Joshua, I thought him to be an ordinary boy, a nice boy. But when he knew I had fallen for him, he tried to persuade me into giving him the book. I had never told him about it, he already knew about it before we met. When I refused he turned violent, he tied me up to search my room. When he didn't find the book he had his way with me and left. I never saw him again." Mary explained, fighting back tears behind her eyes when she remembered the thing he had done to her. Riker's grip was stronger now, he had pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "It's alright, it's the burden of being a guardian. You didn't know me then, you never did anything like that to me, you never could've stopped him." Mary said. "That's not right, if being a guardian means being raped, then you shouldn't be one." Riker said. "I knew the risks when I signed up, it's our duty as a guardian to protect the artifact with our lives. Joshua could've killed me, I got lucky." Mary explained. "I don't like it." Riker mumbled. "I know it's hard to understand, but it's my life. I chose this path and I intent to follow it. And if it eases your mind, incidents like that only happen about once every century. The odds of me getting hurt again are very slim." Mary spoke, putting her hand softly on Riker's cheek again like she had done in the store. "I still don't like it." He said softly. "He hurt you, he raped you! How can you be so calm about this?" He ranted.

Mary simply smiled, looking at Riker's reaction to her story had proven her theory's "What?" Riker asked confused. "I was right. I'm calm like this, because I was right about you. If I had had this conversation with Joshua, he would have focused on the book, almost ignoring the assault. But you couldn't wait to jump to my side, ready to defend me. I was right about you, so I don't have to be scared anymore." Mary said, pulling Riker down to the mattress again. He had stood up in anger, pacing around. Now he was sitting next to Mary again, looking into her eyes. "Really?" Was all he could ask. Mary moved closer, placing a hand on his shoulder, feeling his muscles. "You make me feel safe." She whispered. Looking at him with big eyes.  
Riker's eyes shot open, his heartbeat rose, and he was suddenly very aware of how close Mary was. He softly put his hand in the crook of her neck and pulled her even closer. Their lips met, and moved them together, working the same rythem. First slowly, then deeper and harder. Riker moved Mary down to lay on the mattress, never breaking the kiss. Laying on top of her, but careful not to crush her, he deeped the kiss even more. Hands were everywhere, and never stopped moving, until Mary broke the kiss.  
"If you're not ready yet, I understand." Riker panted.  
"That's not it, but thanks. I wanted to aks you if you were sure about this. I have a lot of baggage." Mary said.  
"I know, but I am sure. I don't care if you are a guardian or not, it just means that I have a reason to be protective about you."  
"I like it when you get protective." Mary said smiling. Riker was grinning, moving his head down to touch noses with Mary.  
"Do you now." Pecking her lips, then moving his attention to her exposed neck.  
"Hmmm, oh yeah. It's very, exiting."  
"I love the way you talk." He sucked Mary's neck. "So smart." A kiss on the same spot. "So sophisticated." A small bite a little bit further up. "Makes me want to make you forget it all." His tongue easing the pain.  
"Oh! Yes, like that!" He was driving her mad already.  
"It's working already." Riker joked, leaving her neck and kissing her lips again. Soon the were intertwined with each other, pulling the other as close as possible.

When they came up for air, they stopped to look in each other's eyes. "Maybe we should stop now." Mary said softly, not blinking once. Riker simply nodded, knowing that if they started another one of those make-out sessions, they might not be able to stop themselves. "Yeah." He layed down next to Mary, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. They both just layed there, panting for breath, looking at the stars, in peace.


	12. Chapter 12

"So what did you guys talk about?" Rocky asked when Riker got back from his 'date'. "Who did you talk to?" Ross asked. Riker sighed, closed the front door, and walked further into the room. "Mary, up on the roof." Riker answered Ross's question. "About that Joshua guy that broke her heart a few years ago." He said, simply walking past his siblings and friend to the fridge to grab a drink. "What did she say?" Ellington asked. Riker looked down to his feet for a moment, thinking about what he would say. "I don't think it's my place to tell. He did some pretty bad things to her though." Riker said. "But Lucy said she was still hung up on the guy?" Rydel said, confused. "No, not hung up. Scarred. She didn't really trust anyone after him." Riker explained. "Then why wouldn't she tell her best friends?" Ross wondered. "Don't know. Maybe she didn't have the heart, maybe she didn't want to relive the moment. She just didn't want to bother Lucy by correcting her." Riker wondered out loud.

Riker knew exactly why Mary didn't tell Lu and Charlie, not that she told him, he figured it out. Lydia knew, without a doubt, that's why she confronted her on the roof tonight. But if Mary were to really explain what happened to the other two, she had a much bigger secret to reveal first. Lu and charlie didn't know about the rape, because they didn't know about the book.

* * *

One floor above Mary was dragged to Lydia's room.  
"What did you tell him?" Lydia asked, no reservations whatsoever. "The basic's. And I am sure I can trust him Lydia. When I told him about Joshua, I told him about the book and how Joshua already knew about it. All I said what that it was very old and that I would go through lengths to protect it. All Riker asked about was if I were alright after, if Joshua didn't hurt me too badly. He doesn't care about the book at all, just about me." Mary said.  
Lydia seemed to relax a bit after that, but was still vigilant. "So he doesn't know anything about the You-Know-What?" She asked. "Like I said, he knows it's a book. He knows it's old and that it has secrets, and that I'm to protect it. He knows nothing about the content or your role in it all." Mary told her friend. Lydia still wasn't satisfied. "You know what I think." She said. "You think he knows too much already. Not everyone is as rotten as Joshua. It's alright to trust people every once in a while." Mary pleaded. "And not everyone is as nice as you make them out to be. You see kindness in people where others won't care to look, you believe in innocent until proven guilty, but in your position those treats can be dangerous." Lydia started. "What are you saying?" Mary was worried. Lydia sighed, not wanting to hurt her friends feelings, but someone had to say it. "You're naive and gullible Mary. Your innocent view on people is what Joshua used against you, because it's so obvious. Who's to say Riker isn't playing the same trick?" Lydia said. "I am. I saw his face when I told him, it was genuine concern about my safety. And that is my training speaking, not my heart." Mary defended herself. "So you are a 100% sure that we can trust him?" Lydia asked, once more for good measure. Mary smiled. "I am."

Lydia dropped the subject, forced a smile and took a deep breath. "Alright, so beside the points you know I don't agree on, how did it go?" A serious conversation had turned into girl talk. Mary knew Lydia was never going to agree with some of her decisions up on the roof, but she let it rest too. Picking a fight over this would be useless, so Mary too subsided to girl talk. "It went wonderful. We kissed lying on the mattress, but before it went too far, we stopped. After that we just lay there, looking at the stars." Mary gushed. "So the kiss, was it like a quick peck on the lips? Or a full make out session?" Lydia asked eagerly. "Well he was upset about what Joshua had done, pacing around. So I pulled him down to sit next to me, soothed him, and then he placed his hand in my neck, right here. He pulled me closer and he kissed me. It was quite a deep kiss, not just lips brushing, but a proper kiss." Mary told Lydia, who was on the edge of her seat so to speak. "And then?" Lydia asked. "He moved me to lay down, with him on top. He said that he'd understand if I wasn't ready yet. That's when we stopped, he just lay down next to me and held me." Mary continued, staring at the wall, re-living her evening. "Sound pretty magical." Lydia said, letting her friend be in her little world. "It was. I never had a moment like that with Joshua, we had moments but then never felt like this. Those moments were always forced, I was there, but Joshua never was. Riker was there with me, the whole time, he always is." Mary said. "What do you mean?" Lydia was confused. "I've had moments with Riker alone before. Sometimes there are even people in the room with us, but it always feels like just me and him. When I look into his eyes, the rest of the world disappears around us, just for a brief second, but it's gone." Mary explained. "You got it bad my friend, just don't let it cloud your judgement." Lydia warned. "It doesn't. My judgement is clearer then ever."

* * *

"So apart from the talking, what else did you guys do up there?" Ryland asked Riker with a big wink. "That is for me to know and for you to guess, little brother." Riker winked back. Knowing that everyone in the room had a pretty clear idea of what could have happened that evening. Everyone laughed a bit, but Rydel came back to the point. "So what happens now? Between the two of you?" She asked. Riker sighed deeply and leaned forward, arms resting on his knees, looking at the soda can in his hands. "I have no idea."


	13. Chapter 13

So how are my lovely reader people? Let me know. Also I would like to say that all the informative facty stuff is true, or at least widely accepted as the truth.

* * *

The whole gang was hanging around at the girls apartment again, as had become custom when most of the inhabitants were home. They just had dinner and it was getting late, but everyone was huddled around Charlie's laptop. She had just landed some big shot job for a big company and she was showing everyone what she had so far. The assignment had come out of nowhere, the client had specifically asked for her, and everyone was thrilled for her that she had managed to create a name so fast.  
"So this one has some color in it, but I think they'll prefer the grey ones." Charlie was babbling when Mary noticed something. "They all have the seven stripes or dots? Why?" She asked. "You noticed huh? I don't know, they were very specific about that. Seven. Maybe they got seven departments?" Charlie answered. "Yeah, probably. Or seven associates or things like that." Lucy said. "I guess, they all look amazing Charlie." Mary said while giving her friend a big hug. She stood up and walked away to the kitchen to get some tea started, when Riker followed her.

"Hey" He said, leaning very close over Mary shoulder while she was filling the pot. "Hey." Mary said back. "You know, we haven't talked since that night. Well not alone." He corrected himself after seeing Mary's correcting look. "Can we talk?" He whispered. Mary looked into the room, everyone still focused on the laptop's screen. "Of course, what's troubling you?" She asked, as innocent as possible. She knew what he wanted to talk about, because she wanted to talk about the same thing. She just didn't know it for sure. "You know what I want too talk about Mary. That night." Riker spun her around so she was facing him. They were very, very close. "What are we now? We can't just ignore it, the kiss, the gazing at the stars. I need to know." He continued. "Well why don't you tell me. I know that kiss was special." Mary whispered back, checking behind her if no-one was eavesdropping. "You felt that too." Riker came even closer, bodies flush against each other, and Mary was trapped between him and the counter. "Of course I did. No-one kissed me like that before." She confessed. "But what does that make us?" She asked. "I know what we could be of you want to." Riker whispered so softly it was almost just a breath. Faces inches away from each other. "What?" Mary asked. "I could be your boyfriend, if you want." He moved even closer. "I want that." Mary had barely whispered or Riker's lips were crashing on hers.  
Luckily she had seen it coming, and she was kissing him back with just as much force as he was kissing her. His body now pressing her against the wood of the counter, her hands in his neck. "Oi, you two. Break it up will ya, that's where we cook." Lucy yelled.

"So you guys are official now?" Rocky asked with a big smile when Riker and Mary sat down. The lovebirds looked at each other, Riker put his arm around Mary and let her answer. "We are."  
That's when Mary's phone started ringing. "Oh, I really need to get this one." She excused herself and walked to her room.

"Hello Professor, what can I help you with?"  
*Mary my dear, are you alone?*  
"I am, what is this about sir?"  
*Danger is coming. Someone is after the book.*  
"Are you certain?"  
*I am certain.*  
"I'll have to take the necessary precautions and stay vigilant."  
*I'm terribly sorry to put you in this position again.*  
"It's alright Professor. I knew what I signed up for. I knew the risks. I am fully prepared to do whatever it takes to protect the book."  
*You, my darling, are one of the bravest people I know. Be safe.*  
"You too professor. You too."

"What was that about? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Lucy said when Mary came back out of her room. "I'm fine Lu, but thanks for your concern. It was Professor Ecrivains, he had some disturbing news about one of his recent findings. He's afraid it might be stolen, or get stolen if he doesn't improve it's security." Mary explained, not exactly telling a lie. "Who would want to steal something from the Professor? He only works with extremely old artifacts." Charlie wondered. "I don't know, but he was rather worried." Mary answered. "Who's 'the Professor'?" Ross asked. "Professor Ecrivains, he's a French history expert. Well he is from France, his expertise is history in general. He taught Mary art history and is now teaching Lu, but Mary was always his favorite. Still is." Lydia said. "Even after the class was over, he and Mary would talk more about art. He even came over a few times to see Lucy's work. Oh don't get any spicy, student teacher affair ideas, the man is way old." Charlotte said, keeping the story going. "But he is quite genius, and I am flattered that he calls me for fresh eyes every once in a while. I am just worried for him, those objects are his life. If any of them got stolen he would be broken." Mary ended, sitting back down next to Riker. He immediately put his arm around her, pulling her close. "He'll be fine. You have enough to worry about on your own, no need to add more trouble." He comforted her.  
"You are right, let's talk about something else. Like Charlotte's design's. I haven't seen this one yet." Mary changed the conversation, Charlie took the hint and started talking about the design currently on display. "So Charlie, are you going to put the company's name on the logo?" Ryland asked. "No, they had a lot of restrictions. One of them was that they didn't want the name on the logo, just the symbol." She answered. "So what is that company called again?" Rocky asked. "Nebu, whatever that means."

Mary turned white, seven elements, Nebu, she knew exactly what it meant. And also who was after her precious book.


	14. Chapter 14

It had been a quiet day in the store, to Mary's relief. She hadn't really gotten any sleep since the Professor's news, and Charlotte's mysterious assignment didn't help either. It just didn't make sense, a big company like that could afford a whole team of the best graphic designers to come up with something, why specifically ask for a nobody rookie? If they were impressed by her work they would have let her creativity roam free, not give her so many restrictions and demands. And that was without the crazy symbolism, but that didn't have to mean anything. Seven was a powerful symbol in Roman, Egyptian and even christian mythology. It make sense to use the people's familiarity with it in your logo.  
Secondly, corporate companies were only after one thing, money. Old and mysterious sold these days, so to go with a well known symbolic number and a bit lesser known Egyptian symbol for gold did make sense. But it just didn't feel right.

All week Mary had been pondering about this, she didn't stop until Riker told her to calm down. He had pressured her into telling her what was going on, so Mary had told him and Lydia about the warning and her suspicions about that Nebu company. Neither of them knew what to do with that, it could be something, could be nothing. But online research on the company resulted in nothing useful. So far it seemed Mary was freaking out over nothing, just like she had thought. But all three decided to keep an eye open to suspicious things concerning Nebu.

The bell rang, someone had entered the shop. Mary walked over to see who it was to get a bit of a surprise. A tall man in a fitted suit had walked into their little shop. He was reading the sections, heading immediately to non-fiction, history. "Can I help you Sir?" Mary asked politely, hiding her weird feeling. "Yes, I am looking for a really specific subject. I haven't been able to find anything in other shops." He stood up straight and faced Mary, now she got a good look at him. He was tall, his light brownish hair neatly groomed and cut short, though near the ears the first grey hairs were showing. A big charismatic smile on his face, and the strides and poses of a man who was raised like a gentleman. But what stood out were his cufflinks, bright gold in the shape of something that looked like a bug. "I am looking for a some information on Nicolas Flamel. Do you have anything?" He continued his question.  
"I'm afraid not, I wasn't aware that there was something new about him released. Otherwise we might have considered buying some books, but I'm afraid those subject don't really sell in a small store like this." Mary answered. "Oh there is nothing new, but I don't mind old work." The man said, walking towards the door again. "Well maybe you'd have more luck in a library." Mary suggested. "I might, thanks." And with that he left the building. Mary followed him with her gaze through the store's window. The gentleman walked to a large black car with tinted windows, he stepped in back and the car drove off the second the door had closed.

That evening when Mary came home she was freaking out. Lydia was sitting in a comfortable chair, and without a word Mary sat down on the couch, across her friend. Lydia looked up. "Something wrong?" She asked. "Yes." Mary said simply, but before she could say anything else, someone knocked on the door. Lucy opened the door to let Riker in. "You texted me? What's the emergency? Hi Lu." He said when he came in. "Yeah you have been acting weird, what's going on. Has it something to do with the book?" Lucy asked. "She knows?" Riker asked. "Of course I know, we all know, wait you know?" Lucy was confused. "Lydia, Luce and Charlotte all know about the book, they helped me protect it last time, and yes he knows. I told him last week. I didn't want to worry you and Charlie, especially Charlie, but the Professor didn't call about one of his thingies, he called about the book." Mary explained while everyone sat down around her. "Is it about Nebu?" Lydia asked. "It might be. Maybe Charlie should hear this too, if I'm right she has a right to know who she's working for." Mary sighed. "Charlie get out here." Lucy yelled, and Charlie appeared from her room. "What's wrong?" "Book things." Lydia said. "Why is he here then?" Charlotte said pointing at Riker, who looked offended. "He knows." Charlie opened her mouth to say something but Riker beat her to it. "I'm no Joshua, I just want to keep Mary, and all of you, safe." The girls nodded grimly. "So what's the scoop?" Lucy asked and Mary started explaining.

"A man in a suit came into the shop today. Why's that odd you ask, because we don't get men in suits. We get broke students, we get locals, but no fancy men in fitted suits with fancy cars with chauffeur. Men like that make a lot of money, if they want to buy a book they do it online or in shop near their work, not in a small shop on the outskirts of town." Mary started. "Is that it? Maybe he was here for business?" Lucy asked. "Fitted grey suit, neatly groomed and gold cufflinks? what kind of business would bring a man like that here?" Mary asked. "You never know for sure." Lydia said. "Well that's not all. He asked for a book on Nicolas Flamel, there has been no new research published on him lately, and bookstore's usually sell only recent works. He knew there was nothing new in Flamel, why bother going to a small shop when you know you won't find anything? Plus Flamel? Why would he be interested in a medieval alchemist?" The girls looked concerned now too, but Riker was lost. "What?" "Nicolas Flamel was a French alchemist who lived from 1340 till 1418. The man lived in medieval times, there's only so much you can find about a man living in those times. He left a small papertrail, which was impressive in those days if you weren't royalty, but not much. Everything that can be found out about him is found out and written about, there's nothing left for a researcher to find and publish." Mary explained. "Right, and why is this weird?" He asked. Charlie answered. "They say he made the philosopher's stone. If this man is really looking for that he is either after unlimited gold or eternal life."

* * *

Author's notes for those who are interested in Nicolas Flamel.

Why does he sound familiar? Because J.K. Rowling did her homework on writing the first Harry Potter novel. But unlike most of her other character's, Flamel was once real.  
This French alchemist is rumored to have made two famous formula's, usually mentioned in one breath under the title 'Philosopher's stone'. One to turn common metals like lead into gold, and the 'Elixir of life'.

Flamel was a bookbinder, a respectable profession in those days, but probably nowhere near enough to pay for the good works he did. He and his wife, but mostly him, paid for several buildings around cemetaries and churches. Nowadays that might be considered creepy and odd, but Flamel was very religious. I don''t think he was paying of for his sins, he genuinely cared about the church. So if Nicolas didn't make enough money for those, where did it come from?  
The boring but rational, and probably true, explanation for this is his wife. She was loaded. They probably used that to pay for those extravagant things while they lived relatively sober.  
The more exiting explanation, and fuel to the myths, is of course the stone. Flamel would generously be able to afford all those things if he could make his own gold.

So that's one myth explained, but what about that life Elixir? My mary mentioned a date of death, if Flamel had truly found a way to keep on living, why die at the age of mere seventy-eight? For those times already very, very old, but that's not my point.  
After his death, treasure hunters turned his home and workplace upside down to find the formula's. I mean, gold and living forever does sound a bit tempting don't you think? But no-one ever found something, bummer. So they left his house and found his grave, they figured Flamel took his findings with him in the coffin so no-one else could use it. But they found the grave empty, odd right.

So there are a few explanations going around for that one.  
One, the man was rich, smart and very religious. He must have thought ahead and knew that graverobbers would even try to bother him in his death, so he paid for second, anonymous, grave somewhere else where he could actually 'rest in peace'. With or without the formula's, who knows.  
Second, he used the life elixir and didn't die in 1418. Then when did he die, and where? Your guess is as good as any. But even if he did use the potion, it has been centuries. At one point, enough is enough.

So that was a brief lecture on our friend Nicolas Flamel, hope you liked it. Now I did do my research on this, but I still strongly advise any of you NOT to use this page as in a history report as a reference. Have fun the next few days, or weeks, wondering about this mystery. I have been doing so for a few years now.

End author's notes


End file.
